The Historic District

Hi all, I'm going to try something here that has worked well on a couple of other forums that I have been involved with. Most of us are always doing stuff on our houses, little bits and pieces or changes. Most don't necessarily warrant a full post / thread, but others might be interested. So here is a "sticky" chatter thread to mention what you have been up to on the house lately.

Don't let it stop you making a thread specifically for an update, this is just for little stuff. I'll kick it off:

------

Today I got the final coat of paint on a set of louvered shutters I have been restoring for our bedroom window on the gable end. As usual I had completely disassembled, stripped and rebuilt them. These two needed new parts making so took longer than normal. I will post some pics when they are up.

I have just had a large bulge in the stone wall by my barn rebuilt. The final result is beautiful. I'll try poring pictures later.

[img][/img]

it was an attack on willows for me . every year I go rent a big gas weed eater with a blade and go nuts and trim a big area of them to the ground. they are near a lake and block our access. Every year I return and they are as tall as me again. little by little bullrushes start to invade too but they float on the water and make their own "land"

I buy biodegradable twine , lay three lengths on the ground and pile them up to make a bundle that I can barely move but when It dries it gets lighter..
the gas weed eater with blade will cut the willows right at ground level, Hard to do that with a chainsaw because they hate being run in the gravel, but the weed whacker with blade is more forgiving.



after a hard days work relaxing by the lake with a cold beverage is so rewarding, here is a view from the porch, I spent a few days with a friend just watching eagles and ospreys and beavers a woodpecker, and had a visit from a 5 point buck who stared at me and then went back to eating wild berries. We saw and numerous water birds loons, geese, ducks, I saw a kingfisher diving for fish. I saw an eagle from across the lake catch one and two others that live near us who are in competition chased him and made him drop his fish back in the lake. Its a special place away from everyone. Living in the City has it's rewards but there is nothing like just getting away from everyone.

Phil, your view is incredible and I so agree!

Yes Phill, very nice view. And to end the day looking at that would most defiantly be relaxing. Nice picture as well, the reflection of the evening clouds on the lake.

really cool view Phil! and incredibly nice barn Don!

Today I did at least manage to screw my restored hardware and newly fabricated hinges to one set of fully restored shutters. Also came face to face with a skunk in our compost

I discovered what was causing a brown stain splatter in 4 locations shaped like a fan on the walls of my freshly painted house, which was dripping and oozing down to my windows and white trim, a real mess. I couldn't see anything living or otherwise that was causing it, and it wasn't a dive bombing bird, because the mess was appearing in the same spots. Nobody in the area knew what was causing it, nor did anybody downtown or in parks and recreations.

So as I am cleaning it, I hear this buzzing sound, and this huge black bee is hovering nearby. I get off the ladder and watch, and it disappears right at about where the splatter is. I look, see a tiny hole in the facia under the overhang, which is 2x6 attached to the rafter tails.

Aha! A quick search tells me all about the carpenter bee, and how they drill a hole and can burro up to 6 inches into the wood, and how they kick their crap out of the hole onto my wall. Yep, the pictures look like what I got.

All I had handy at the moment was some WD 40....the bees didn't like that at all....

Today I "excavated" my big stone hearth, which had been covered by a bathroom put in where the fireplace used to be. I don't have a picture uploaded, but it looks like it should be covered with Plexiglas and have an interpretive sign Just as I thought I had found all the types of wallpaper in my house, I found a new one behind some boards above the hearth. This weekend will be spent going through a pile of mixed very old, pretty old, and new bricks in order to pull out the ones for reconstructing the fireplace.

I also apologized to my horse today for replacing riding time with house restoration time. Her consolation prize is bare feet and a fat belly for the rest of the summer, I suppose. Sacrifices!

I finished cleaning up where my yard guys had taken out three "zebra" plants earlier this week. It took them using a machete, a pole ax, and a regular ax to get them out in clumps. These plants are only supposed to grow to around 10 ft. high and wide, but explode in my yard to about 14 ft. wide and high with 4 ft. diameter root clumps. The holes in the yard were big enough to twist an ankle in! The plants do look nice when their plumes come out in the fall though.